Planning the Menu for Holiday Parties

One down, two to go—holiday meals, that is. The folks at Whole Foods have their act together as far as helping both savvy home chefs and the semi-clueless ones (we know who we are) make sure the Hanukkah and Christmas tables look fabulous. You can sit down at the holiday table at the front of the store and work with Whole Foods planners to order a complete meal for your guests, or perhaps simply a tray of mouth-watering antipasti for that upcoming open house. If you have your act together, you can order your Diestel turkey from Whole Foods, pick it up, take it home and roast it in your own oven.

There are, of course, all of the side dishes ready to pick up and serve, and classic desserts including—yes, even a gluten-free pumpkin pie. To order your holiday meal—from chopped liver paté, to vegan, to spiral-cut ham, simply swing by the store at 911 Soquel Ave., (or call 426-9901), place your order and make a date to pick it up. Simplicity itself. Now all you need to do for dinner is show up and look good . . .

And, while you’re at Whole Foods, check out the holy grail of gluten-free items: the bagel. Canyon Bakehouse has shattered the gluten-free ceiling with its new, sensational 100-percent whole-grain bagels. Yes. Bagels. Gluten-free, yet offering a convincing chewiness that will have you in tears. At Whole Foods they run close to $6 for four fat gluten-free bagels. Think of it as a buck-and-a-half a piece. If you had abandoned hopes of ever being able to enjoy a bagel again, this is indeed a bargain. We also found them in the freezer section of New Leaf Market. Yay! This gluten-free upsurge is a veritable movement, driven by consumers who want to live without the issues surrounding gluten, and yet refuse to compromise. I am genuflecting (to Canyon Bakehouse) as I write this.


Owl’s Brew Tea Crafted for Cocktails

A new discovery from Owl’s Brew, and wow this stuff is tasty: Owl’s Brew tea “syrup” crafted for cocktails. We found this at the ever on-the-edge Cafe Ivéta on Delaware Avenue, where bottles (of various sizes) of this fun new mixer are available. I was offered a sample taste, which I didn’t refuse. So here’s what it is: An intense infusion of Darjeeling hibiscus tea, tinged with the floral notes of strawberry and a sass of lemon (sweetened with organic agave), this syrup is exceptional swirled into a cup of green tea, or a tall glass of lemonade. Or. An updated Kir Royale—just add champagne! At Iveta, where we discovered this delicious concoction, they add it to glasses of white wine. Patrons love it. If you’re looking ahead to throwing a holiday cocktail party, you might want to pick up a bottle of Owl’s Brew. You will be celebrated throughout the county.


A Better Tamale

My father searched high and low for a tamale to match the ones he tasted as a boy at Mrs. Omnes’ boarding house in Boulder Creek. Chances are he would approve of the ones you’ll learn to make with Melissa’s Mexican Made Easy, on Sunday Dec. 4. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., join Melissa at the Westside New Leaf Market, where for $65 you’ll learn to make two kinds of tamales with chicken, salsa verde, jalapeño, and cheese. You’ll make sauces, a fiesta salad and hibiscus punch—and you’ll take home six tamales! Class includes lunch, recipes, supplies, and music. Bring an apron and an appetite. To register, email in**@me*********************.com or call 251-5640.

Persephone Opens in Aptos

At some point, casual-upscale became the norm for new restaurants in Santa Cruz. But Persephone, which opened where Aptos Pizza used to be, is kind of an ode to the old-school, fine-dining style of restaurant that used to be more common. The food is Mediterranean, with lots of local flavors and an emphasis on the dining experience. We spoke with Alex Potter, the co-owner who runs the front of the house and oversees the vast wine selection. His sister, Cori Goudge-Ayer, is also the head chef—local foodies may be familiar with her work at Laili and Süda.  

How is it being part of a family business?

It’s good. We’re a close family. We have lots of mutual respect. My sister is almost 10 years older than me. We are doing her passion project. My background has been guest service and bartending and serving for years. It made sense for me to do the front of the house. I’m kind of like the wine guy. My sister is such an amazing chef.

How do you define ‘Mediterranean’ cuisine?

It’s more about techniques. Rather than French techniques of butters and creams, it’s oil-based cooking, a little bit lighter. Pastas, seafood. In terms of ingredients, it’s really local. We’re sourcing almost everything. We’ve got local farmers, all small organic guys. We’ve got fishermen bringing us fish fresh from the harbor. Even the meat is mostly within 100 miles or so. Santa Cruz County has a similar climate to the Mediterranean climate. So a lot of or ingredients are similar.

How much will your menu change with the seasons?

Some of our most popular [dishes] will stay on the menu pretty much forever. A lot of it will change every couple of months, depending on what’s fresh and local. Right now, one dish I know will probably always be there is the truffle cheese tortiglioni. It’s like a really decadent truffle mac and cheese with Monterey Jack cheese. That’s a crowd favorite. The budino is an appetizer that will always be there. It’s a savory parmesan custard. We serve it with different seasonal squash. Certain things will change. Parts of the dishes might change depending on the local ingredients.


7945 Soquel Drive, Aptos, 612-6511.

Vintner’s Select Reserve 2012 makes the perfect holiday gift

I stopped by Villa Del Monte Winery recently for a tasting of their wonderful wines, including one in particular I had been wanting to try—a velvety 2012 red wine blend called Vintner’s Select Reserve.

The striking artwork on the label is the first thing to notice. Created exclusively for Villa Del Monte by artist Sonya Paz, a pattern of bold shapes and colors adds such pizzazz to the bottle, it makes you want to buy it regardless of the contents. But you have a double whammy here: a truly well-made nectar in an extremely eye-catching bottle. It’s the perfect holiday gift, in fact.

Luscious and intense, this delicious blend of Santa Cruz Mountains Cabernet Sauvignon and Carneros Merlot is a gorgeous mouthful of dark fruit with well-balanced structure. Aged for 24 months in French and American oak barrels, it sells for $43, with a discount for wine club members.

Winemakers John Overstreet and Neil Perrelli take great pride in producing Villa del Monte’s extraordinary wines, and it is well worth paying them a visit for a tasting, especially if you’re a Pinot lover.

Villa del Monte Winery, 23076 Summit Road, Los Gatos, 408-353-0995 or 888-788-4583. Open just once a month; the next dates are Dec. 17 and 18. Check villadelmontewinery.com for exact dates and times.


The Turkey Boat

A cute little eatery in Pajaro called The Turkey Boat has got you covered if you’re still craving turkey. Fancy a Turkey Pesto Salad, some Turkey & Vegetable Soup, or a Turkey Boat Sandwich bursting at the seams with potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, and gravy? This is where you go: The Turkey Boat, 7 San Juan Road, Pajaro, 536-5351. Call for hours or email owner Linda Flores at th***********@ya***.com.


Toque Blanche

Toque Blanche is the new name for the eclectic kitchen supply store in downtown Santa Cruz formerly known as Chefworks. The store still carries an amazing selection of goods for all your cooking and baking needs. And just in case you didn’t know, a toque is a chef’s hat. Toque Blanche is at 1527 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, 426-1351. mytoque.com

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology Nov 30—Dec 6

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): “I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow,” wrote naturalist Henry David Thoreau in Walden, “to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines.” I’d love to see you summon that level of commitment to your important rendezvous in the coming weeks, Aries. Please keep in mind, though, that your “most important rendezvous” are more likely to be with wild things, unruly wisdom, or primal breakthroughs than with pillars of stability, committee meetings, and business-as-usual.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): For you Tauruses, December is “I Accept and Love and Celebrate Myself Exactly How I Am Right Now” Month. To galvanize yourself, play around with this declaration by Oscar-winning Taurus actress Audrey Hepburn: “I’m a long way from the human being I’d like to be, but I’ve decided I’m not so bad after all.” Here are other thoughts to draw on during the festivities: 1. “If you aren’t good at loving yourself, you will have a difficult time loving anyone.” – Barbara De Angelis. 2. “The hardest challenge is to be yourself in a world where everyone is trying to make you be somebody else.” – e e cummings. 3. “To accept ourselves as we are means to value our imperfections as much as our perfections.” – Sandra Bierig. 4. “We cannot change anything until we accept it.” – Carl Jung.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Are your collaborative projects (including the romantic kind) evolving at a slower pace than you expected? Have they not grown as deep and strong as you’ve wished they would? If so, I hope you’re perturbed about it. Maybe that will motivate you to stop tolerating the stagnation. Here’s my recommendation: Don’t adopt a more serious and intense attitude. Instead, get loose and frisky. Inject a dose of blithe spirits into your togetherness, maybe even some high jinks and rowdy experimentation. The cosmos has authorized you to initiate ingenious surprises.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): I don’t recommend that you buy a cat-o’-nine-tails and whip yourself in a misguided effort to exorcise your demons. The truth is, those insidious troublemakers exult when you abuse yourself. They draw perverse sustenance from it. In fact, their strategy is to fool you into treating yourself badly. So, no. If you hope to drive away the saboteurs huddled in the sacred temple of your psyche, your best bet is to shower yourself with tender care, even luxurious blessings. The pests won’t like that, and—if you commit to this crusade for an extended time—they will eventually flee.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Nobel Prize-winning novelist Gabriel García Márquez loved yellow roses. He often had a fresh bloom on his writing desk as he worked, placed there every morning by his wife Mercedes Barcha. In accordance with the astrological omens, I invite you to consider initiating a comparable ritual. Is there a touch of beauty you would like to inspire you on a regular basis? It there a poetic gesture you could faithfully perform for a person you love?

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “For a year I watched as something entered and then left my body,” testified Jane Hirshfield in her poem “The Envoy.” What was that mysterious “something”? Terror or happiness? She didn’t know. Nor could she decipher “how it came in” or “how it went out.” It hovered “where words could not reach it. It slept where light could not go.” Her experience led her to conclude that “There are openings in our lives of which we know nothing.” I bring this meditation to your attention, Virgo, because I suspect you are about to tune in to a mysterious opening. But unlike Hirshfield, I think you’ll figure out what it is. And then you will respond to it with verve and intelligence.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A reporter at the magazine Vanity Fair asked David Bowie, “What do you consider your greatest achievement?” Bowie didn’t name any of his albums, videos, or performances. Rather, he answered, “Discovering morning.” I suspect that you Libras will attract and generate marvels if you experiment with accomplishments like that in the coming weeks. So, yes, try to discover or rediscover morning. Delve into the thrills of beginnings. Magnify your appreciation for natural wonders that you usually take for granted. Be seduced by sources that emanate light and heat. Gravitate toward what’s fresh, blossoming, just-in-its-early-stages.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): According to traditional astrology, you Scorpios are not prone to optimism. You’re more often portrayed as connoisseurs of smoldering enigmas and shadowy intrigue and deep questions. But one of the most creative and successful Scorpios of the 20th century did not completely fit this description. French artist Claude Monet was renowned for his delightful paintings of sensuous outdoor landscapes. “Every day I discover even more beautiful things,” he testified. “It is intoxicating me, and I want to paint it all. My head is bursting.” Monet is your patron saint in the coming weeks. You will have more potential to see as he did than you’ve had in a long time.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A journalist dared composer John Cage to “summarize himself in a nutshell.” Cage said, “Get yourself out of whatever cage you find yourself in.” He might have added, “Avoid the nutshells that anyone tries to put you in.” This is always fun work to attend to, of course, but I especially recommend it to you Sagittarians right now. You’re in the time of year that’s close to the moment when you first barged out of your mom’s womb, where you had been housed for months. The coming weeks will be an excellent phase to attempt a similar if somewhat less extravagant trick.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Hundreds of years ago, the Catholic Church’s observance of Lent imposed a heavy burden. During this six-week period extending from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, believers were expected to cleanse their sins through acts of self-denial. For example, they weren’t supposed to eat meat on Fridays. Their menus could include fish, however. And this loophole was expanded even further in the 17th century when the Church redefined beavers as being fish. (They swim well, after all.) I’m in favor of you contemplating a new loophole in regard to your own self-limiting behaviors, Capricorn. Is there a taboo you observe that no longer makes perfect sense? Out of habit, do you deny yourself a pleasure or indulgence that might actually be good for you? Wriggle free of the constraints.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “The Pacific Ocean was overflowing the borders of the map,” wrote Pablo Neruda in his poem “The Sea.” “There was no place to put it,” he continued. “It was so large, wild and blue that it didn’t fit anywhere. That’s why it was left in front of my window.” This passage is a lyrical approximation of what your life could be like in 2017. In other words, lavish, elemental, expansive experiences will be steadily available to you. Adventures that may have seemed impossibly big and unwieldy in the past will be just the right size. And it all begins soon.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “I have a deep fear of being too much,” writes poet Michelle K. “That one day I will find my someone, and they will realize that I am a hurricane. That they will step back and be intimidated by my muchness.” Given the recent astrological omens, Pisces, I wouldn’t be shocked if you’ve been having similar feelings. But now here’s the good news: Given the astrological omens of the next nine months, I suspect the odds will be higher than usual that you’ll encounter brave souls who’ll be able to handle your muchness. They may or may not be soulmates or your one-and-only. I suggest you welcome them as they are, with all of their muchness.


Homework: If you had a baby clone of yourself to take care of, what would be your child-rearing strategy? Tell me at freewillastrology.com.

Advent, Liturgy, Light in the Darkness, St. Nicholas

December, month of hopes, anticipations and expectations (suspense for the little ones), is filled with festivals of light in the ever-increasing darkness. There is a feeling that something new is about to occur. Everywhere preparations are being made. Advent is a preparatory celebration in the Christian churches. Advent, from the Latin word “adventus,” means “something’s coming”—winter, solstice, new light, birth, holidays, parties, festivities, revelations. Advent lasts four weeks. Evergreen Advent wreaths with four colored candles (three violet, one rose) are made. Each Sunday night a new candle is lit. The candles represent light glowing in the solemn darkness. We light our candles in the dark half of the year, awaiting the light half of the year.

As each year is divided into four seasons, the Liturgy of the Christian church divides the year into “liturgical seasons.” “Liturgical” is Greek for “the work of the people”—a communal participation in the “sacred” through worship, praise, tithing, prayer, acts of kindness and mercy. Each season has a different mood, theological emphasis, mode of prayer, decorations, colors, readings, themes and scriptures.

In the Ageless Wisdom teachings, the year is divided into six seasons for the Three Laws and Three Principles of the Aquarian Age. The season we have just begun (Nov. 21–Dec. 20) focuses on the Principle of Essential Divinity (divine fire at the heart of all matter). As we light our candles in the dark in December, we are reminded that the Essential Divinity within us is a fire, Agni. And each of us is a light in the darkness.

Tuesday, Dec. 6, is St. Nicholas’ feast day. Nicholas was generous and kind, a protector of those in need. He loved children. St. Nicholas is the Advent saint. He is Santa Claus.


ARIES: You’re out and about, in and of the world. You can’t help it. The world, people, events, food, travel, adventures, mountain peaks, plains, culture, civilization—all summoning you to participate. Perhaps you will consider writing a book, perhaps publishing becomes interesting, Think deeply on your goals. Create more. Ponder upon this statement: “I see the goal, I reach that goal and then I see another.”

TAURUS: I ask that you also read and ponder upon the statement at the end of Aries. And then observe the many and varied goals, dreams, hopes and wishes filtering through your mind each day. There’s not enough time each day to accomplish everything. Time seems to have changed, accelerated. You have many plans to fulfill. Visualize yourself in the midst of abundant resources and money. See yourself as the Law of Attraction. Accomplishing all dreams.

GEMINI: What are you planning for the holidays? Will you prepare with family and friends? With someone in particular? Tend carefully to the one closest to you. A silver light is shining on your relationship. Communicative intimacy is being called for. Past, present and future seem to be bundled together. You and another need to travel. Down a river or lake somewhere. Blue mountains ahead.

CANCER: Your health at this time is what matters most. Focusing on health is good because you have the capacity to purify, harmonize and heal more quickly now. Foods are also on your mind. Are you considering preparing food to give as gifts? Are endless tasks and responsibilities appearing moment by moment? Till you have no time? Say no to some. You need rest.

LEO: Your heart seeks more adventure, fun, play and being tended to in a very creative way. You need to accept invitations to parties and festivities, be with friends, attend plays, art shows, dances, and visit other people’s homes. You need both a Christmas tree and a Hanukkah bush with lights and candles everywhere. You need to be loved, cared for, recognized and then loved some more. Who can do this?

VIRGO: You are the light of the world to your family. You are the one who must connect them, one to the other, create festivities that make them feel at home. You must begin to plan a large gathering so that those who have no family are welcomed (where you are). You must merge separate realities, unify oppositions, and synthesize all the parts and pieces. You love these tasks.

LIBRA: Being out and about in the neighborhood, dropping in on neighbors, driving around town seeking the most dramatic holiday decorations, having dinner with friends, gathering holiday decorations, seeing relatives, talking on the phone, sending holiday cards—all of these things you love to do. You look forward to the beauty of this season all year. Who is your family these days?

SCORPIO: For the next several weeks you sense a light shining on you. You’ll feel lucky, able, capable, resourceful, wealthy, emotionally supported. Don’t run out, however, and buy everything shining brightly you fancy. Unless it’s for a loved one. Then be lavish. However, most appreciated would be your heart, given to another. Even if it’s to a friend. We think of you as internal, hidden, watchful. Give a little more of yourself for a while.

SAGITTARIUS: All parts of you are active, energetic, hopeful (we hope). You also become a bit more impulsive, quick to anger, impatient, wanting your own way (for a time). We see you as being more assertive, daring like a warrior. You become very attractive. However, be careful with everything—communicating, driving, walking, running, using tools, implements. Things red, hot and sharp (all of which, to some, you are) might attack. You’re laughing. That’s good. Caution with language.

CAPRICORN: You may be fatigued, weary, drained, worn out, depleted of major nutrients and in need of rest. Soon you will need to be out and about in the public more, so take this time to draw back, do less work. You can still plan and create goals. However, do not act upon them immediately, instead making health, rest, and well-being your central focus. Allow these to be your directives for at least a month.

AQUARIUS: As you go out and about be careful not to be too reckless. You have energy and enthusiasm, you have hopes and wishes, you have opportunities and invitations. Amidst the many possibilities, attend only one or two at a time. Say thank you, exit gracefully, then focus on several more. Pay all bills promptly, don’t worry about money. You always have the needed resources and connections to resourceful people.

PISCES: You become more public, and more of your leadership qualities are summoned. A forum or group invites you to teach, to offer your gifts of communication, counseling, intelligence and knowledge. You prepare. However, you are aware that at any time, things dissolve away. So you are hopeful, patient, accepting, acquiescing, yet you are also wary, cautious, circumspect, careful and coiled like a kundalini snake, which is OK (for now).

Opinion November 23, 2016

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EDITOR’S NOTE

I swear, I read through the summaries in this week’s issue of what the local nonprofits involved in Santa Cruz Gives are doing in our community, and what they want to do with donations they receive from GT readers, and I think: Oh my god, I so want to work with these people. And then I think: Oh my god, I AM working with these people. I can’t even express how lucky that makes me feel.

I mean, even in the most progressive of political times, there are so many things that fall through the cracks—things that seem small to the world at large, but make a huge difference to the people they affect in our community. And then times like now, as we’re about to face possibly the most repressive and backward-thinking regime in the history of modern American politics? All, and I mean all of the good work is going to be done at the local level. Who does the burden fall on to protect the vulnerable members of our community, to do the good work that needs to be done to make us the best community we can be? The people who dedicate themselves to the groups we’re asking you to give to this year through the Santa Cruz Gives website, santacruzgives.org. These are the people who are working to build the county’s first playground that’s accessible to children with disabilities (Shane’s Inspiration). The health providers who are bracing for a full-scale attack on women’s reproductive rights (Planned Parenthood Mar Monte). The compassionate souls who are struggling to provide a safety net for the neediest in our community (Warming Center Program).

And that’s only the smallest sampling of the people you’ll find in this issue who are working to keep anything and everything from falling through the cracks in our community. I can’t urge you strongly enough to read about them, and about how Santa Cruz Gives works, and also to check out Maria Grusauskasarticle this week on the science of giving to understand even better why embracing the holiday spirit of giving strengthens and enriches all of us. In the first year of Santa Cruz Gives, we raised $92,688, far more than anyone imagined GT’s holiday giving campaign ever could—and this year our goal is $140,000. We at GT want to thank our partners at the Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, without whom this project would not be possible, and our first two corporate sponsors, Wynn Capital Management and Santa Cruz County Bank, who leaped on board to support Santa Cruz Gives. We also want to give a shout out to all of the donors who provided Challenge Grants to kick-start some of the individual nonprofits’ campaigns—you’ll see those on the profile pages for each nonprofit. I personally want to say thanks to GT’s publisher, Jeanne Howard, for having the vision to dream this up in the first place. And, of course, thanks to all of our readers for everything they do to help those who help our community.

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF


LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Read the latest letters to the editor here.

Four-Year Plan

To all who voted: If your candidate did not win, you can leave, sit and pout, scream for four years or, perhaps, stick around, get involved, and help make the best of things for the term.

If your candidate won, don’t relax. Politicians need to be encouraged to do their job right and discouraged from taking themselves too seriously.

John Pilge | Santa Cruz

American Electoral

Re: Letters, 11/16: The Electoral College is not at all obsolete! Capturing the most electoral votes requires 21st-century candidates to travel all over the United States learning the particular and peculiar pertinent local issues. If the presidential candidate merely had to win the most popular votes, s/he would never have to leave the TV studio or computer screen. We voters would only hear very generic general pablum while our important problems would be unrecognized and ignored. That our Founding Fathers figured this out 227 years ago is astounding!

Steve Edwards | Soquel

Tribute to Lowery

Robert Lowery was his name. Blues was his game. He talked the the talk and he walked the walk. A bluesman for life. Authentic and sincere. His gut-level guitar playing wrenched new life from traditional blues classics.

He was an accomplished artist of the first degree. A blues artist. The guitar fingerboard was his palette. Six steel strings and a metal slide would serve as brushes. The notes, mostly blue, were his choice of colors. He’d start to play and sing and instantly proceed to paint a true portrait of what the blues can feel like.

His music will live on through a rich repertoire of recordings. Man had the blues in the beginning, and he still has the blues today. Listen to the blues.

Rick Messina | Santa Cruz

Skip the Turkey

President Obama is taking a break from Trump transition to pardon two turkeys. Every one of us can exercise that presidential pardon power on Thanksgiving by giving thanks for health and happiness while skipping gratuitous violence.

The 235 million turkeys killed in the U.S. this year have nothing to be thankful for. They are raised in crowded sheds filled with toxic fumes. At 16 weeks, slaughterhouse workers cut their throats and dump them in boiling water to remove their feathers.

Consumers pay a heavy price, too. Turkey flesh is laced with cholesterol and saturated fats that elevate risk of chronic killer diseases. Package labels warn of food poisoning potential.

But, there is good news. Annual per capita consumption of turkeys is down by a whopping 35 percent from a 1996 high. A third of our population is reducing meat consumption. Food manufacturers are developing a great variety of healthful, delicious plant-based meat products.

My Thanksgiving dinner will include a “tofurky” (soy-based roast), mashed potatoes, stuffed squash, chestnut soup, candied yams, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and carrot cake. An internet search on vegan Thanksgiving and a visit to my local grocery store will provide me heaps of recipes and delightful plant-based turkey alternatives.

Preston Daniels | Santa Cruz


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GOOD IDEA

GREEN DAY
For its annual Green Friday celebration on Nov. 25, State Parks will waive parking fees at 116 parks, including 10 in Santa Cruz County: Big Basin Redwoods, Castle Rock, Henry Cowell Redwoods, Manresa State Beach, Natural Bridges State Beach, Seacliff State Beach, Sunset State Beach, the Forest of Nisene Marks and Wilder Ranch. For more information, including how to get a pass, visit greenfriday.org.


GOOD WORK

MORE PARKS
The local parks department has been busy as well, recently opening the Polo Grounds Park in Aptos and, before that, Chanticleer Park. Last week, the county opened restrooms and a concession stand building at Polo Grounds Park.


QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Thanks to the electoral college, Good Riddance lyrics that were written 20 years ago are relevant today.”

-RUSS RANKIN, AT THE NUMBSKULL ANNIVERSARY SHOW AT THE CATALYST

What are you grateful for?

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“Shelter in a cold season.”

Giselle Holland

Santa Cruz
Unemployed School Teacher

“All the natural beauty in Santa Cruz, and for living in a tolerant community. ”

Erika Perloff

Santa Cruz
Artist

“Our beautiful ocean, our clean air. I’m grateful for my family.”

Kristin Brownstone

Santa Cruz
Communications Consultant/Actor

“I’m grateful for our 3-year-old daughter. I’m grateful to be alive.”

Christopher Bell

Portland
Full Time Dad

“My students that I teach every day. They’re just amazing kids who give me hope for the future.”

Rachael Jacob

Santa Cruz
Teacher

Who Gets the Local Economy Moving?

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“Who’s the small-business advocate who actually helps them—who’s not out for money all the time? That’s a challenge,” says entrepreneur Andy Van Valer, leaning forward at his desk at NextSpace.  “Who’s on their side, who’s not really just out there for the money?”

Van Valer, a business consultant, helped organize this year’s local Small Business Saturday, which falls on Nov. 26, and he owns Slingshot SV, a company that helps new entrepreneurs find their way. He’s also among a group of locals on the cutting edge of local investing, looking to help worthwhile small businesses find the assistance—financial or otherwise—they’re looking for.

Over the years, Van Valer has noticed that all too often small business owners will get tangled up either with advisers who don’t know what they’re talking about or firms charging a prohibitive fee for simple advice.

That’s partly why Van Valer has put so much energy into growing Small Business Saturday, working with the county’s economic development department and his friend Bryce Root, a marketing expert, free of charge.

Together he and Root created a website, press releases, blog posts and promotional materials to assist participating businesses. This local spin on Black Friday was started by American Express six years ago, with communities around the country still joining in.

With well over 1,000 county businesses participating this year, the day of local shopping offers deals from Boulder Creek to Watsonville and puts everything from boutiques to taquerias in the spotlight.  

In Santa Cruz, “thinking locally” sometimes sounds like a cliché, but as this year’s event draws near, a new trend has emerged in Santa Cruz’s economy. More techies and business people are thinking creatively about the landscape of local funding and investing, as well as how to improve it.

Van Valer says he has been trying for five years to figure out how to help “locals fund locals,” and the wheels on that movement recently began to turn.

The office where he’s sitting near the back of NextSpace is filled with the color orange—orange business cards, orange day-passes to the co-working spot, a rusting orange beach cruiser. A few feet away, typing away on his laptop, sits NextSpace CEO Kurt Grutzmacher, who shares Van Valer’s passion for local investments.

Grutzmacher also has a few consulting clients of his own. Both entrepreneurs say they’ve proudly put money into clients’ companies when they truly believed in them and didn’t know how else their clients would find the cash.

Grutzmacher has also invested in his favorite places to eat or drink, like Gabriella Café and Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing.

“I don’t go around actively seeking it, but when those opportunities arise, it’s a dream marriage. You know these people. You trust them. You know the business. They’re right here,” says Grutzmacher, who’s wearing a San Jose Sharks hat. “Why wouldn’t you support ‘em? I’ve been a customer of theirs for 10 years. It’s for a reason.”

Grutzmacher gets so excited about the importance of local community that he started bringing his kids to city council meetings when they were in preschool.

Longtime financial services planner Michael Meara, who lives in Aptos, has also spent plenty of time wondering how to get more folks in the Monterey Bay to partner in their neighbors’ ventures. It would be better for the local community, he says, than if everyone just kept pushing their money toward Wall Street.

Meara would love, for instance, if it became easier for more individuals to invest in mom-and-pop businesses that are likely to grow steadily over the years, making for some smart money along the way. Historically, cash flowing into emerging small businesses typically comes from venture capitalists, who often make bets on lots of tiny tech companies, knowing that if one of them makes it big, they can increase their money 100-fold or more.  

“This is different than that. You’re not trying to make a home run, just singles. Maybe a double—ching,” he explains, swinging his arms in the air as if holding a baseball bat. “And then you’re loading up bases. For me it’s about leverage impact. One plus one equals four. Or five.”

As interest in the topic grows, Meara also has his eye on a few pieces of state legislation that could ease regulations on who can become an accredited lender. The current rules, which were borne out of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, have aimed to eliminate “fly-by-night” trading practices, Meara says, but he fears they’re now inhibiting savvy business people from making good small-time investments.

It’s that lower end of the funding spectrum where it’s already more difficult to secure cash. Banks don’t typically dole out less than $250,000 because it’s hard for them to make those types of loans profitable. Even most venture capitalists and angel funds—like Central Coast Angels, which has been in the Monterey Bay since 2014—would rather not mess around with smaller investments.

But a new local funding group called Angels by the Sea, which formed last year, has specialized in loans as low as $25,000. With more than 20 members including Van Valer and Grutzmacher, it’s already made a few investments, including LifeAID beverages and InBoard, an electric skateboard with motors in its wheels.

Board member Randy Whiting says the group’s members—some of whom have decades of experience in related fields—have been able to offer lendees guidance, which can be almost as helpful as a check in getting to the next level.

That level, though, Van Valer, points out, is not for everyone. Now and again he meets a small business owner who’s grappling with long-term planning, and he reminds us that it’s perfectly fine to run a small-scale operation.

“Their cash flow’s great. Their business is good, but for some reason, someone’s convinced them that they have to open two more restaurants or another brewery or another clothing store down the street, when really they’re fine where they are,” he says. “Enjoy it. And that’s OK. That’s one of the challenges. People feel like they have to grow all the time. Not really. There’s a lot of people looking for VC money. They want to be the next big thing. There’s nothing wrong with being a $2-million-a-year business. So just, do that, be happy if that’s what you want. Sometimes you go to that next step—it’s hard.”

Watsonville Native on the Front Lines of Standing Rock

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Noah-Michael Treanor, a Pajaro Valley High School grad, says he was protesting peacefully near the Standing Rock Native American reservation when he found himself blindsided by sheriff’s deputies on the night of Sunday, Nov. 20.

Earlier in the evening, some activists at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in North Dakota had been trying to move a barricade over a bridge and clear an emergency route, according to the Washington Post.

Later, law enforcement began using a water cannon on the crowd in subfreezing temperatures—a decision that would cause an uproar nationwide the following day. Treanor says he was behind a barbed wire fence chanting “Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do.”

Suddenly, a rubber bullet struck Treanor in the head, and he began bleeding profusely.

In recent months, hundreds of activists like Treanor have gathered to stop construction of the oil pipeline, which was controversially rerouted under the Missouri River near a Sioux reservation without an environmental review, thanks to a shortcut granted by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Although phone reception and internet access in the middle of North Dakota are limited, Treanor managed to give friends and family a brief update on Facebook the next day that he had gotten six staples in his head and was feeling better.

“I had to sleep all day today, but I’m waking up right now, and I’m feeling better,” he told GT via text message late Monday afternoon. “Getting ready to go back on the front lines.”

The initial news had shaken his mother Joelle Marek Treanor—she found out about the incident on Facebook Monday morning, and couldn’t get in touch with him for hours. A fellow activist had posted an image of a tall, wounded 21-year-old asking if it might be Treanor. His mother knew immediately that it was.

A video from “The Young Turks,” an online media group, showed Treanor with blood gushing from his forehead, and it mentioned other people getting struck in the head also.

Others in the crowd came down with severe hypothermia from the water cannons, and the high-pressure water ripped the skin off one protester’s hand, according to the video. Law enforcement additionally launched tear gas, and some reports said that concussion grenades were used as well.

The video shows medics cleaning Treanor’s wound and bandaging it before placing an emergency blanket over him and driving him away in the back of a station wagon. 


For more information on how to get involved in supporting Standing Rock, visit sacredstonecamp.org.

Theater Review: Jewel Theatre’s ‘Next to Normal’

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One of the most interesting things about the Jewel Theatre Company is its choice of material. Sure, they produce their share of the classics—Harold Pinter, Athol Fugard, Noel Coward—but Artistic Director Julie James also has a sharp eye for innovative work less familiar to local audiences.

Case in point: Next To Normal, the exhilarating second production in JTC’s 12th season. This show also marks the company’s first anniversary in its new space, the Colligan Theater at the Tannery (where they opened last November with Guys and Dolls). Next To Normal is also a musical, but there’s nothing old school about it. Debuting on Broadway in 2009, the show won a couple of Tonys, along with a Pulitzer Prize, for its audacious depiction of a wife and mother with bipolar disorder whose struggles to cope with her husband, her family, and herself are surprisingly universal.

With music by Tom Kitt and book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey, this is not the kind of musical that comes with show tunes and a chorus line. It’s more like a rock operetta, with almost non-stop music provided in this production by an onstage jazz-rock combo (ably led by keyboardist Katie Coleman) and a cast of six terrific singers. The music ranges from poetic to powerhouse, the lyrics are insightful, and the singers perform in an endlessly inventive series of duets, quartets, and counterpoints.

The story revolves around Diana (Lee Ann Payne), a suburban housewife struggling to keep herself together in order to hold her family together. Husband Dan (Christopher Reber) has stuck with her through all the peaks and valleys of her illness. Son Gabe (the outstanding Coleton Schmitto) is the apple of his mother’s eye. Teenage daughter Natalie (a poignant, affecting Brittany Law), a scholastic overachiever, also plays keyboard, embracing the classical precision of Mozart as an antidote to the chaos at home.

In the course of the story, Natalie warily allows a new boyfriend, Henry (affable Ryland Gordon), into her carefully sealed-up life. Family secrets are revealed, while Diana sinks into a low period, and changes her meds and her doctors (both played by Nick Gallego, one white-coated and avuncular; the other described as a “rock star” in his field, who appears to Diana strutting and wailing, bathed in a neon spotlight.)

Even in this cast of excellent singers, special kudos go to Schmitto. A dynamic performer onstage, he not only brings an authoritative edge to his rock singing, but also contributes beautiful harmonies in the multi-part vocal arrangements, while his sweet falsetto is used to very tender effect in the ballads.

The lyrics are smart and the music propulsive. A recurring theme is presence, in life and in one’s own self, in songs like “He’s Not Here,” “Wish I Were Here” and Schmitto’s show-stopping “I’m Alive.” “Wish I Were Here” is sung by Diana, watching from above (on Kent Dorsey’s spare, effective double-decker set), while doctors perform ECT (it used to be called shock therapy) on her sedated body. Diana’s very funny pre-op number, “Didn’t I See This Movie?,” manages to reference Sylvia Plath, Frances Farmer, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

As Diana, Payne sings up a storm (even when her mic temporarily failed her during one song on opening night); she captures Diana’s wry wit, and articulates the emotional terrain of each number. Reber’s rumpled, loyal Dan, trying to do his best, partners with her beautifully. Married in real life, they last appeared onstage together for JTC in the fabulous film noir musical Gunmetal Blues. (He was the gumshoe; she was the blonde who popped up in all the female roles.)

James (who also directs) keeps the action brisk and the audience engaged. The exuberance of this production is what live theater is all about.


The Jewel Theatre Company production of ‘Next To Normal’ plays at the Colligan Theater in the Tannery through Dec. 11. Call 425-7506, or visit jeweltheatre.net.

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Theater Review: Jewel Theatre’s ‘Next to Normal’

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